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Thursday, February 23, 2012

More on the Swedish Royal Birth!

STOCKHOLM — Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria gave birth to her first child Thursday, a baby girl who will one day become queen, prompting banner headlines and 21-gun salutes across the country.

The news gave the royal family a respite from the negative headlines that have dogged King Carl XVI Gustaf, Victoria's father, after a 2010 book made scandalous claims about his private life.

The girl, who is second in line to the Swedish throne, was born at 4:26 a.m. (0326 GMT), said Victoria's husband, Prince Daniel. She was 20 inches (51 cms) long and weighed 7.23 pounds (3.28 kg).

Both the crown princess and the baby are "doing very well," an emotional Daniel told reporters who had waited for the announcement all night at the Karolinska University Hospital in the Stockholm suburb of Solna.

"My feelings are a bit all over the place," he said, switching to English mid-sentence.
"When I left the room, the little princess was sleeping on her mother's chest and they were looking very cozy," he continued in Swedish, folding his arms as if cradling a baby.

Victoria, 34, is next in line to the throne held by her father since 1973. Sweden changed the constitution in 1980, three years after Victoria was born, to allow the eldest heir to inherit the throne regardless of gender. Before that female heirs were excluded.